Action & Politics

Region: San Francisco
Time: 10/30/12 Tue (5:30 PM - 7:00 PM)
Location: Commonwealth Club (SF)
Street Address: 595 Market Street (2nd floor)
City: San Francisco
Contact: Karen Keefer
Email: rpcvk2@gmail.com

NorCal PCA is partnering with the Commonwealth Club of California on

Humanitarian Action and the Politics of Compromise

Sophie Delaunay, Executive Director, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USA

This talk will describe the notion of humanitarian space as a “negotiating space” where compromise is not only inevitable but necessary. To understand the difficulties of humanitarian organizations’ contemporary working situation, we need to look at how their ambitions have developed, and an important question that needs to be addressed is whether it is getting more difficult to reach acceptable compromises – and who decides what is an acceptable compromise – in some of today’s humanitarian contexts. Based on a research work done by an MSF team, the presentation will include critical reflections following MSF’s recent medical humanitarian responses in Sri Lanka, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Haiti and elsewhere, exploring the purposes of negotiations, the levels of justification MSF uses for its political choices, as well as how the landscape has changed from the Cold War to the Global War on Terror.

Sophie Delaunay first became involved with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 1993 in administrative and finance roles and then worked extensively in program management both in the field and at headquarters. Delaunay has worked on MSF projects in Thailand, Rwanda, China, and Korea, as well as in the French and US offices. She also conducted in-depth evaluations of MSF programs in Liberia, Darfur, Central African Republic, and China. Besides her MSF work, Delaunay worked for three years as program director in ESTHER, a French government AIDS agency, where she supervised the organization's programs in 18 countries. She holds a master's degree in international business from Le Havre University in France and a master’s degree in political science from Yonsei University in Korea. She has contributed to multiple publications, including a book about North Korean asylum seekers.
MLF: International Relations
Location: Commonwealth Club of CA; 595 Market St. (at 2nd St.); San Francisco 94105
Times: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 Standard, Free for Members, $7 students (with valid ID). $8 for NorCal Peace Corps members—
go to: http://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2012-10-30/sophie-delaunay-doctors-without-borders-and-necessity-compromise and enter coupon code sfforsophie
NOTE: coupon code is case sensitive and can be used only once per ticket transaction. If there is any trouble redeeming the coupon, it can also be used by calling the Club’s automated ticket line at 415-597-6705.